Minor injuries after SUV hits utility pole

The Sheffield Lake Fire and Police departments respond to a crash that occurred off Lake Road on Friday afternoon. The driver of an SUV collided with a utility pole, requiring immediate attention from Ohio Edison to fix it. KRISTIN BAUER | CHRONICLE

SHEFFIELD LAKE — A driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed it into a utility pole Friday afternoon.

According to firefighter Thad Campbell, the driver did not sustain any significant injuries, but he was transported to University Hospitals Avon Health Center.

“There were no serious injuries,” Campbell said. “The driver just had minor injuries.”

Firefighters declined to comment on what may have caused the driver to lose control, but a neighbor who witnessed the crash said he heard the driver tell police and firefighters he fell asleep.

Tom Durham, 4395 Lake Road, the neighbor who called 911, said it appeared as if the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed before he crashed into the pole. Durham said there also was a child in the vehicle.

“It was a black SUV, and there was a child in a car seat that couldn’t have been over 2 years old,” Durham said. “The kid was fine, all the air bags in the vehicle were deployed and he said he fell asleep at the wheel. His vehicle was destroyed. He walked out with a little cut on his head.”

The utility pole came down when the vehicle struck it and brought down the power lines to Durham’s home. Durham said this is the third time in 10 years someone has hit the pole in that location.

“If he would have been over a couple more feet, he would have been in my house,” Durham said. “There are no brake lines and he did not slow down one bit. I thought the guy would have been really hurt because it was a terrible accident. They had to tow the vehicle out because there was no moving it.”

Sheffield Lake police did not release the driver’s name or any information regarding the crash because they said a report had not been written. A police dispatcher did say a citation was issued, but she declined to say what the charge was.